He Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked North Korea for supporting their actions in Ukraine and said their countries will cooperate closely to overcome sanctions led by USA while heading to Pyongyang on Tuesday for a summit with the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The comments of Putin appeared in an opinion article in the state media of North Korea hours before his scheduled arrival for a two-day visit as the countries deepen their alignment in the face of separate and increasingly intense confrontations with Washington.
In Pyongyangthe North Korean capital, the streets were decorated with portraits of Putin and Russian flags. A banner hanging on a building read: “We warmly welcome the President of the Russian Federation”.
Putinwho will make his first trip to North Korea in 24 years, said he greatly appreciates their firm support for his military action in Ukraine. He said countries would continue “resolutely opposing Western ambitions”. Putin also said that Russia and North Korea will develop commercial and payment systems “that are not controlled by the West”.
North Korea is under heavy economic sanctions from the Security Council of the UN for its nuclear weapons and missile programs, while Russia is also dealing with sanctions of USA and its Western partners for their aggression in Ukraine.
Putin He said the countries will also expand cooperation in tourism, culture and education.
Before heading to North Korea, Putin I travel to Yakutska city in the east of Russiawhere he supposedly planned to meet with the regional governor Aisen Nikolayev and receive information about area technology and defense-related projects.
The visit of Putin It comes amid growing concerns about an arms deal in which Pyongyang provides Moscow much-needed ammunition to fuel the war Russia in Ukraine.
US and South Korean officials They say that military, economic and other exchanges between North Korea and Russia have increased considerably since Kim he met with Putin in September in the Russian Far East, the first since 2019.
US and South Korean officials they accuse North Korea to provide Russia artillery, missiles and other military equipment for use in Ukrainepossibly in exchange for key military aid and technologies. Both Pyongyang and Moscow deny accusations of North Korean arms transferswhich would violate multiple sanctions of the Security Council of the UN that Russia previously endorsed.
With China, Russia has provided political cover for the continuing efforts of Kim to upgrade its nuclear arsenal, repeatedly blocking efforts led by USA to impose new sanctions UN to the North for its weapons tests.
In Marcha Russian veto in the United Nations ended the monitoring of the sanctions of the UN against North Korea for its nuclear program, prompting Western accusations that it Moscow is trying to avoid scrutiny while buying weapons at Pyongyang to use in Ukraine. US and South Korean officials They have said they are discussing options for a new mechanism to monitor the North.
At the beginning of this year, Putin sent him to Kim a limousine Aurus Senat high-end, which he had shown to the north korean leader when they met in September. Observers said the shipment violated a resolution of the UN which prohibited the supply of luxury goods to North Korea.
John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council of USAsaid that the increasingly deepening relationship between Moscow and Pyongyang It’s worrying, “not only because of the impacts it will have on the Ukrainian people”.
“We haven’t seen the parameters of all that at this point, we certainly haven’t seen it come to fruition. But we are certainly going to follow it very, very closely.“, said.
Lim Soosukspokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Koreasaid Seoul has been emphasizing Moscow that any cooperation between Russia and North Korea must not “move in a direction that violates the resolutions of the Security Council of the UN or undermine peace and stability in the region.”
The tensions in the korean peninsulas are at their highest point in years, with the pace of weapons testing Kim and combined military exercises involving United States, South Korea and Japan escalating in a tit-for-tat cycle.
Putin has continually sought to rebuild ties with Pyongyang as part of efforts to restore the influence of his country and its Soviet-era alliances.
After North Koreahe Kremlin said Putin will also visit Vietnam Wednesday and Thursday for talks expected to focus on trade. USA criticized the planned visit of Putin.
“While Russia continues to seek international support to sustain its illegal and brutal war against Ukrainewe reiterate that no country should give Putin a platform to promote its war of aggression and allow it to normalize its atrocities,” said a spokesperson for the Embassy of USA in Vietnam it’s a statement.
(With information from AP)
